Best Man
by Moonlitdaydream
Summary: A best man speech can't be that hard to write can it?


"There's the time he got so drunk in the Hog's Head that when he tried to disapperate he somehow managed to splinch all his hair" Sirius suggested, quill poised to write this genius idea down.

"Errr..not sure James would appreciate that being brought up again, not after the incident at his birthday party" Remus replied, trying very hard not to smile.

Sirius sighed and slipped further in his chair, clearly thinking very hard. "What about when he forgot Lily's birthday so he turned himself into Prongs and gave her a coupon for their very own petting zoo?"

Remus spat out his mouthful of Firewhisky. "He what?!" he exclaimed laughing hard.

Sirius looked instantly guilty, "oh er.. please don't tell James I told you that, he swore me to secrecy."

Remus wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes and made a supreme effort to regain a straight face. "Poor Lily" he smiled "remind me why she's marrying him again."

Sirius gave his barking laugh, "search me. She's obviously lost her mind," he joked back before throwing the quill down in exasperation. "Moony this is impossible! You write it for me, please, go on! I'll be your bestest friend forever" he whined, sounding exactly like the teenager he had been only a few years before.

Remus shook his head fondly , before vanishing his glass and standing up as if to leave, "sorry mate you're on your own with this one." When Sirius pouted again like a petulant toddler Remus took pity. "You've known James since you were eleven Sirius, you must be able to think of something to say." And with those extremely helpful words of advice, Remus clapped Sirius on the shoulder and made his way to bed.

Two days later, a very nervous Sirius Black was drawing the attention of all his Marauder friends. To see Padfoot nervous about anything was as rare as a golden unicorn and they were all getting a little alarmed watching him knock over his third glass of champagne.

The guests were still tucking into their delicious meal, and glasses of wine and champagne were floating gently around the tables. Lily was radiant in her white wedding gown, chatting happily to her father by her side. James, when he wasn't watching an increasingly chaotic Sirius, beamed with pride at his new wife. His happiness was clear for everyone to see.

It had been a beautiful ceremony, and Sirius had held it together long enough to do his duty of passing the rings over. But now, as Remus kindly started tapping his glass to silence the chattering guests, James was convinced his best friend was going to be sick. Sirius stood up and straightened his dress robes with one hand, the other pointed his wand at his throat to magnify his voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please can I ask you to pause your conversations for one moment?" he began, those old pure blood traditional manners suddenly coming back to him. His voice was wobbly, and everyone could see his hands were shaking.

"First of all I would like you to join me in congratulating James and Lily on their special day, and in urging Lily to get her eyesight and sanity checked as soon as possible." The room gave an appreciative laugh and Lily had a wide smile on her face. Both of these things seemed to bolster Sirius' confidence a little, and he regained a little of his natural swagger. "In all seriousness though, I could not be happier that my best friend has found someone so wonderful to share his life with. James Potter you are a very lucky man."

"Here, here" Remus, Peter and James all cried, causing Lily to blush scarlet.

Sirius gave a grin, clearly now back in his element of showing off. "But Lils, I've got to say, you couldn't have done much better either. Growing up I didn't really have a family. Not a proper one anyway. And then I met James. Now, let me tell you, when he was eleven he was a titchy little squirt whose glasses were bigger than his face, but he had a good heart even then. We've had many times over the years when I thought he would give up on me. He should have done really. The man's too soft for his own good. But he never did, not ever. He could look past my family name and for some reason decided that I was worth being friends with. I'll never be able to repay that."

The guests were looking tearful, and James' eyes had gone very bright. Sirius' voice was heavy with emotion. "So thank you James. Thank you for everything. I'm looking forward to watching you live your life with the wonderful Miss Evans. I know you're going to have a long and happy life together, making a home and lots of mini James and Lilys. So, everyone please raise your glasses to James and Lily!"

"To James and Lily!" chorused the guests.

James stood up and pulled his best friend into a fierce hug. "You're so welcome mate" he whispered into Sirius' ear, "remember, I might have Lily now but you will always have me."

Sirius grinned and gave James an extra pat on the back, before swinging around to face the crowd again, wand pointed back at his throat. "So, did I ever tell you about the time James got drunk and splinched all his…"

There was a resounding crash as James quickly wrestled Sirius to the floor…


End file.
